


Down the Bone-Eater's Well

by Kaatyr



Series: Divergent Worlds [12]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Alternate Universe, Audio Format: MP3, Gen, Kitsune, One Shot, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaatyr/pseuds/Kaatyr
Summary: A kitsune's jewel is lost. A teenage boy finds himself mixed up in the matter.
Relationships: Kurama | Minamino Shuuichi & Urameshi Yuusuke
Series: Divergent Worlds [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1413277
Kudos: 16





	1. The Kitsune's Jewel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is available in audio form for those who would prefer to listen rather than read. Please note that this is a text to speech recording, which means that there may be some issues with it.
> 
> [Stream or download MP3 via Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13xHWACiRE-ULrkFFHqfEvAIPcSvTvLVU/view?usp=sharing)

Kurama opened his eyes to a face haloed by bright sunlight. He blinked. Where was he? What had happened? Why was it daytime?

…Why couldn’t he move?

“Uh, buddy, are you okay?”

The voice sounded half-incredulous and half-concerned. And unfamiliar.

Pain. Raw. Gnawing at his insides.

That reminded him. He’d been attacked. By a powerful demon. His _hoshi no tama_ …

Gone. In the hands of that human.

Which meant that Kurama had to deal with the demons before he went to retrieve his jewel.

Kurama heard the cracking of bark as he forced himself free of his prison. Snarling, he lashed out with sharp claws at the demon in front of him. Blood sprayed into the air, splattering onto Kurama’s already-stained hands.

But… there wasn’t enough of it.

Kurama’s opponent stumbled back, one hand rising to cover his injured cheek.

“Fuck, you could’ve blinded me, you know. I kinda get that you’re in a bad mood. I mean, I would be too if I were you… but, jeez!”

While Kurama understood the individual words of the demon’s dialogue, he couldn’t connect them to form a coherent meaning. His body felt strange, weak…

Understandable, since his _hoshi no tama_ was gone.

Kurama wasn’t given the chance to make his next move. A fist slammed into the side of his face. Kurama felt his feet leave the ground. He was airborne for a brief moment, body twisting as he tried to land on his feet. But he ended up flat on his stomach instead. The ground smashed into him, driving the air from his lungs and sending a fresh wave of pain rolling along his nerves.

Kurama coughed up blood.

Blood that didn’t taste quite right. Didn’t taste like his. Where was the bitter tang of demon blood? Barely present.

Before Kurama could stand, he felt a pressure in the small of his back. He grunted, fingers scrabbling against the dirt as he pushed against the weight. But it didn’t budge.

Why wasn’t he dead yet? Why hadn’t the demon killed him?

And where was Hiei?

Hiei.

Another kind of pain hit Kurama. A pain that was purely mental. A pain so much more hurtful than the physical pain he was enduring. And a pain that he’d brought on through his own thoughtless actions.

Forget about Hiei. He could deal with Hiei after he killed the demon he was working with.

Kurama felt pressure on his head, pushing his face into the ground. Shed leaves tickled his nose. Blood and tears soaked into them.

“You gonna stop tryin’ to hit me now? ‘Cause that’s a pretty shitty way to thank someone, you know.”

Kurama felt himself slipping further into confusion. He couldn’t remember where he was anymore.

“Shuichi!”

The voice was familiar and brought just as much pain with it as Hiei’s name had.

Kurama choked on dirt, struggling against the weight of the adult human male keeping him face-down on the ground.

“Don’t hurt him, please!”

Kurama scowled. Stupid woman. She was better off just going back to her little hut and leaving him be. He didn’t need her help.

He twisted his head, ignoring the sharp tug of his hair, to stare at her through his silver strands. She was trying to reach him but two men held her back.

Stupid woman.

“Oh, shit. He’s bleeding all over the place. Is this guy fucking stupid or something? What kind of an idiot still tries to fight when his guts are spilling out all over the place?”

“He’s a demon, you stupid boy. Did you not see the fox ears?”

“Uh, well…”

… ... ...

Kurama opened his eyes. Flickering firelight. A blanket covering him. The smell of cooking stew.

Just like that time.

But neither voice was that of the woman.

Kurama shook his head, trying to shake off the cobwebs of painful memories. It had been such a long time ago. No reason to dwell on it now.

He was alive. And not arrogant enough to be ungrateful for that.

“Hey, buddy. Just lettin’ you know, if you try to kick my ass again, I’m gonna kick yours. I don’t care if you’re hurt.”

Though the male voice was threatening him with bodily harm, the tone was good-natured. Kurama turned his head to observe the young man kneeling beside him.

Flat black hair. Honey-brown eyes. There was something familiar about him… he looked like that man… but not the same. A relative, Kurama guessed. Son, maybe.

His clothes caught Kurama’s eye. He’d never seen the style before. Form-fitting and dyed an unflattering shade of green. How odd.

“Drink this.”

Kurama barely had time to open his mouth before the second person spilled warm, strongly-scented broth into it. Kurama swallowed, then began to cough.

Disgusting human medicine. Still, he wouldn’t refuse. He needed whatever help he could get.

Because his _hoshi no tama_ was still gone.

He lifted his hand from beneath the blanket to wipe his mouth with his sleeve before turning his attention from the old lady back to the male.

“Where is my _hoshi no tama_?” he asked weakly.

“What?” the young man asked, dumbfounded.

“My jewel,” Kurama hissed. “I gave it to a man from this village. Where is he?”

The young man was beginning to look decidedly uncomfortable, his eyes shifting from Kurama to the old lady kneeling on his other side.

“He’s not talkin’ about…” The young man gestured toward his chest. “…That jewel? The one the demon took from me?”

The old lady nodded, her expression as bleak as a dry well.

“For certain,” she said.


	2. Shattered Jewel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is available in audio form for those who would prefer to listen rather than read. Please note that this is a text to speech recording, which means that there may be some issues with it.
> 
> [Stream or download MP3 via Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jo3P6Sm9N9_HzQ_05E4odGh1ala0RtZS/view?usp=sharing)

“Spirit Gun!”

“No!”

Kurama’s incredulous shout came too late. A bright beam of blue energy streaked out of Yusuke’s index finger, shooting directly for the demon standing on the tree branch above them.

The beam squarely struck the egg-sized purple gem the demon held. The demon let out a startled yelp and fell backwards. A cloud of dirt and leaves grew as the loud thump of his landing reached Yusuke’s ears.

“Hah!” Yusuke said, turning to give his companion a victorious smile. “I hit him!”

His companion’s demeanour couldn’t have been more different from his own. Kurama’s cute little fox ears were flattened so close to his head that they had vanished into his thick mane of long red hair. His face had a sickly pallor.

Yusuke clapped his shoulder. “Hey, come on,” he said reassuringly. “Let’s go get your jewel, okay?”

Kurama swayed like a prayer in the wind. He leaned heavily against the tree trunk.

“Yusuke…” he said. His tone was tired and resigned.

An animalistic growl came from behind him. Yusuke spun to face the demon, who had crawled out of the crater his landing had left in the forest floor. Red eyes glared hatefully at him.

“You fucking stupid human,” the demon hissed. “You’ve fucked all of us!”

“Huh?” Yusuke repeated, dumbfounded. An uneasy feeling grew heavy in his gut. He couldn’t manage another Spirit Gun blast. Not today. Probably not tomorrow, either. Kurama could hold his own against demons, sure, but he wasn’t looking so good right now.

Besides, Yusuke only had Kurama’s word to go by about his capabilities. So far, Kurama hadn’t demonstrated said capabilities. For all Yusuke knew, Kurama might have been exaggerating, though Yusuke didn’t think that he was that sort of person. Demon. Whatever.

“The jewel, you idiot!” the demon snarled. “The fox’s jewel! You shattered it!”

“I… what?” Yusuke pulled his eyes away from the demon and quickly scanned his surroundings. The demon’s hands were empty. One of them was blistered and smoking. There was no sign of the jewel. Not on the demon and not on the ground.

“I couldn’t have,” Yusuke protested. There was no way that it was that fragile… right?

“You did.”

The confirmation came from behind him. Kurama still leaned against the tree, his hair shadowing his face in an unruly curtain.

Kurama cracked a tiny, bitter smile. “It seems that all your practice has finally paid off,” he said. “If you were aiming for our foe, then you were very close. If you were aiming for the jewel, you hit it dead on.”

Yusuke searched his unnaturally pretty face for a lie but didn’t see it. He turned back to the demon, who stood with arms crossed over his black cloak, his eyes burning with fury.

“Fucking idiot,” he repeated, before disappearing. A blast of wind and flutter of disrupted foliage was all he left behind.

Kurama lowered his eyes to the ground, his arm cradling his abdomen. One hand remained pressed to the bark of the tree, as if he needed the support. His eyes slid resignedly closed beneath his bangs.

“Well, shit,” Yusuke said.

Several hours later, under the cover of darkness, Yusuke sat down beside Kurama on the low stone wall that marked the village’s border. Tall, dark trees loomed meters away. It was hard for Yusuke to believe that, five hundred years in the future, this would be his home. That his family would live here, guardians of the shrine of a timeless tree.

The same tree that had trapped a kitsune’s spirit for fifty years.

Yusuke glanced sideways at his new friend. Kurama stared into the trees, his expression like the sun hidden behind clouds. Yusuke couldn’t guess at what he was thinking. His fox ears were erect, as if Kurama were listening to the whispers of the trees.

Kurama looked damn good for someone older than fifty. Yusuke had no idea how old he actually was, but it was certainly much older than the sixteen years he appeared to be.

Kurama hadn’t been clear about how he ended up in the tree, or how his jewel had gotten inside the body of a human teenager from the future. He also hadn’t been clear about why the little black-haired fire-wielding dragon demon with the freaky purple extra eye was hunting him and the jewel. He hadn’t been clear on much of anything, except that the jewel was his and that Yusuke had to help him get it back from the demon who had stolen it.

He’d also been quite clear that Yusuke possessed spiritual powers, and then had gone on to help Yusuke unlock them.

But how had he known all of that? Kurama refused to say.

“You okay, buddy?” Yusuke asked him, nudging his shoulder gently with his own.

Kurama turned an earthly green gaze on him.

“I am tired,” he said.

“Is that because of the jewel?” Yusuke asked warily. Just how badly had he fucked up today? Had shattering the jewel genuinely harmed Kurama?

“In part,” Kurama said evasively. “Being trapped inside a tree for such a long time has done my health no favours either.” His eyes narrowed. “But I do need that jewel back, Yusuke. It is a part of me. Without it, I will never regain my full strength.”

“Well…” Yusuke poked his finger in his ear, his expression colouring into embarrassment. Truthfully, he’d already made up his mind about what he planned to do, but actually voicing his decision out loud to the kitsune made it irrevocable. “I guess I’ll have to help you get it back,” he said.

Shock flared in Kurama’s eyes. “You will?” he asked.

Yusuke nodded, a pleased smile forming on his lips. “Yeah,” he said. “We’ll beat that shrimp to it, no problem.”

“Yusuke… it may not be that simple,” Kurama said. His eyes dropped to his hands, folded atop the fabric of his old-fashioned kimono. “Hiei will not be the only demon seeking my _hoshi no tama_. Other demons will seize the opportunity to steal a kitsune’s power.”

Yusuke’s hopeful mood dimmed at Kurama’s revelation. Dealing with that short fire-freak was one thing, but dealing with other demons? Demons who were perhaps stronger?

Yusuke was only human, despite the fact that he, apparently, had spiritual power. Kurama was weakened, though he insisted that he could still be useful in a fight.

Could they take on an unknown number of demons together?

“I would not blame you for reconsidering,” Kurama said quietly.

Yusuke felt sick. Kurama was offering him an escape route. But, damn, he couldn’t take it.

“Nah,” he said. “I ain’t gonna change my mind. I’m not scared of any demon.” He lifted his hand, pointing his index finger up into the air. “I’ll get so strong that I’ll be able to take out a demon army with one blast,” he said.

Kurama laughed, the sound reminiscent of the chimes that hung over the porch of Yusuke’s home. Then his expression turned melancholy.

“You remind me of… he would have said much the same,” Kurama said, his voice as wistful as the last leaves of autumn.

“Who?” Yusuke asked curiously.

Kurama smiled sadly at him. His eyes were far away, as if he were seeing someone else in Yusuke’s place. Or seeing into another time altogether.

“Never mind,” he said.


End file.
